​Why The 5-Day Markha Valley Trek Is Way More Challenging Than The Everest Base Camp Trek

While on the Markha Valley trail, I found several trekkers having a hard time coping with the altitude. Thankfully no one from our group were severely impacted apart from mild headaches. But it did make me stop and wonder. Do we underestimate the challenges this trek provides? Now that I’m back – I’ll say a resounding yes! Here’s my top 4 reasons why:

1. Most people forget Ladakh is a high-altitude desert. There’s two key words here. High-altitude. And desert. When you land in Leh, you’re already at 11,480 ft (3500m). When you land in Lukla for your trek to EBC, you’re at 9,383 ft (2860m). Leh’s extra 2,100 ft forces you to stay back for at least 48 hours to acclimatize. Often that may not be enough for some people, and many trekkers think it will get better on the way. It doesn’t.

2. The “desert” part.On the EBC trail, the tree-line ends on Day 6 or 7 – at Dingboche at around 4410m. In Ladakh, there really isn’t a ‘tree-line’ to talk of. Apart from little shrubs and bushes, there isn’t much vegetation on this trail – vegetation that provides you with some glorious oxygen when you most need it. A single tree produces about 100kgs of oxygen per year and a single person consumes around 740kgs of oxygen in a year. So roughly, we breathe in about 7 – 8 trees worth of oxygen every year. When you’re trekking in Ladakh this math is futile – because there are barely any trees.

Altitude + Desert = Less Oxygen

3. You’re walking longer distances. On the 5-day Markha Valley trek, the first day from Chilling to Skiu is around 12 KM. After that, there’s no day below 18 KM. Not one. Day 2 and Day 5 are both killers topping off at around 20 – 21 KM. On the EBC trail, the longest trail is Lobuche-Gorakhshep-EBC-Gorakhshep which would be around 17 - 18 KM tops.

4.Almost similar altitudes, less time. On the short Markha Valley trek, you reach the highest altitude on Day 5 of the trek - Kongmaru La at 5230m. Everest Base Camp is at 5364m (just 134m more) and you reach there only on Day 8 of the trek. Your body has way more time to adapt to increasing altitudes on the EBC trek.

Combine all of this with the softer, untold bits.

At Markha Valley, there’s long stretches with no satellite phones to call for a helicopter. Not yet anyways. It makes medical evacuation that much harder - which is why it's so important that you go with an experienced and recognized operator.

You arrive at a campsite at the end of a long day and stay in tents – as opposed to a warm tea-lodge with an attached loo on almost all days (if you’re with MHE that is!) on the EBC trek.

And the terrain…the last day of the Markha Valley trek is gruelling – especially for the inexperienced trekker. You will often find yourself walking in deep canyons, on stream beds, over scree and big boulders, hopping across rivulets and then scrambling your way up to catch a steep trail only to descend again! The mountain trails here are narrow with sharp plunging ravines that lead to rocky beds and a flowing stream below. Some of those paths scared me too – especially the ones that showed remnants of small landslides. The only time on the EBC trail you need to do some scrambling is when you’re heading to Namche Bazaar (and even that’s more like climbing steps and stones than scrambling per se) or when you’re headed to EBC from Gorakshep. Otherwise it’s a pretty clean path set out for the 30,000 odd trekkers that walk this route every year.​

So, if you’re really looking for a challenging trek, look beyond Everest Base Camp. Look at some of the most amazing treks India has to offer. Way more challenging and equally stunning. My next ‘wish-trek’ is to Pin Parvati. My trekking guru Pavane Mann tells me that it’s not just challenging, but also one of the most beautiful treks she’s ever done. And she’s done pretty much all of them. I just can’t wait to get there!

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DILSHAD MASTER-KUMAR​I don't follow the tourists. I like to dive into experiences without a plan and simply follow my heart - and my stomach. My memories of every place I've been to is often enmeshed with the food I've eaten there. I love to travel and the sheer exasperation of not being able to find those special places, led me to quit the television industry I'd worked in for 22-odd years, and enter this unknown world.